Keeping R&D alive in testing times

But progressing good ideas that help a business stand out from the crowd – the horsepower of a company – can help businesses survive a downturn.

Financing an ambitious project to design and build a car capable of breaking the Australasian land speed record is tough in the midst of an economic downturn.

But waiting is not an option for entrepreneur Richard Nowland.

“There’s no doubt it would have been easier to attract cash in better times,” says Nowland.

“But it just means we have to go about it in a different way.

“This project is about more than a fast car.

“Hopefully it will create a springboard for new enterprises and highlight the incredible engineering and manufacturing capability we have in New Zealand.”

Inspired by Kiwi legends like Bill Hamilton, Burt Munro and John Britten, the 27-year-old Wellingtonian is acting on a boyhood fascination with fast cars.

He is developing a vehicle, dubbed Jetblack, to reach a target speed of 1,050 km/h and challenge the New Zealand and Australian landspeed records.

Everything about Nowland’s project is entrepreneurial.

He made a spontaneous phone call for advice to world land speed record legend Richard Noble.

He used internet auction sites in the United Kingdom and New Zealand to secure Jetblack’s Rolls Royce Avon 206 engines and the services of an aerodynamics specialist.

It is just a year and a half since Nowland first had the idea.

Now researchers at the University of Canterbury are using the BlueFern supercomputer to do aerodynamic and stability testing on a prototype car.

Businesses are also getting on board.

JJ Fraser Engineering in Lower Hutt has provided machined components, wheels and the fire chase vehicle.

Another Lower Hutt firm, Racetech, has offered seats, harnesses, helmets and race suits.

SKF engineers are researching linear motion and mechatronic (mechanical, electronic and computer engineering) systems for the car.

“These companies recognise that the project is not about speed for speed’s sake but offers potential for growth in their industries,” says Nowland.

Learn from the past

There’s sound evidence that it makes sense to progress good ideas even during the deepest downturns.

Harvard Business School associate professor Tom Nicholas argued the case in a recent article 'Innovation lessons from the 1930s'.

Many companies hesitated to invest during the Great Depression, he says.

Several who didn’t delay investment, positioned themselves for significant growth when the economy recovered.

It’s easy to get cautious about channelling money into innovation during uncertain times.

This is especially so in an economy like New Zealand’s, where investment in R&D is only about half the OECD average.

Government agencies provide assistance.

TechNZ, the business investment programme of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, supports a range of cutting-edge R&D projects.

Auckland company Flotech, for example, has secured just over $600,000 from TechNZ.

It will use the money to develop a simplified biogas upgrading system to produce carbon neutral and renewable energy from waste streams.

In 2007, Flotech commissioned the world’s largest biogas treatment plant in Spain.

It now wants to transfer the technology into a solution for smaller-scale users.

John Dolan, general manager global operations, says Flotech would have carried out the R&D project without TechNZ support.

But the investment will allow it to go faster and reach market sooner.